1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a system for controlling a shield plate in a helmet adapted to be put mainly on a vehicle rider, which comprises a click stop mechanism mounted between a cap body and a shield plate pivotally supported on the cap body, the mechanism being capable of retaining the shield plate in any of a fully closed position, a fully opened position and a plurality of intermediate opened positions, and a control lever pivotally supported on the cap body and capable of being turned between a neutral position in which the fully closing of the cap body is permitted, and a slightly opening position in which the shield plate in the fully closed position is pushed up and opened at a very small opening degree. More particularly, the present invention relates to an improvement in such a system controlling a shield plate in a helmet, including a locking means capable of restraining the shield plate in the fully closed position.
2. Description of the Related Art
A conventional shield plate controlling system in a helmet includes a locking means capable of restraining the shield plate in the fully closed position is already known as disclosed, for example, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 5-214604.
In the above conventional system, a locking bore is defined in an inner surface of the shield plate, and a locking pin is fixedly provided on the cap body adapted to be brought into engagement in the locking bore to lock the shield plate in the fully closed position. When the control lever is turned from the neutral position to the slightly opening position, the shield plate is pushed up from the inside by a cam formed on the control lever, whereby the locking bore in the locked shield plate is disengaged from the locking pin on the cap body. In such system, whenever the control lever is turned from the neutral position to the slightly opening position to disengage the locking bore in the locked shield plate from the locking pin of the cap body, the cam rubs the inner surface of the shield plate strongly. For this reason, when rubbing portions of the cam and the shield plate are worn during long term use of the control lever, there is a possibility that it is difficult to disengage the locking bore from the locking pin.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a system for controlling a shield plate in a helmet, wherein the restraint of the shield plate in the fully closed position and the release of the restraint can be carried out properly over a long term, utilizing the control lever, without provision of portions rubbing each other strongly.
To achieve the above object, according to a first aspect and feature of the present invention, there is provided a system for controlling a shield plate in a helmet, comprising a click stop mechanism mounted between a cap body and a shield plate pivotally supported on the cap body, the mechanism being capable of retaining the shield plate in a fully closed position, a fully opened position and a plurality of intermediate opened positions; and a control lever pivotally supported on the cap body and capable of being turned between a neutral position in which the full closing of the cap body is permitted, and a slightly opening position in which the shield plate in the fully closed position is pushed up and opened at a very small opening degree; wherein the control lever has a locking position permitting the control lever to turn from the neutral position in a direction opposite from the slightly opening position; wherein shield plate has an abutment projection formed on its inner surface; and wherein the control lever has a locking claw adapted to be put into abutment against a front surface of the abutment projection to inhibit the opening of the shield plate upon turning the control lever to the locking position when the shield plate is in the fully closed position.
With the arrangement of the first feature, when the control lever is set in the locking position after bringing the shield plate into the fully closed state, the locking claw of the control lever can be put into abutment against the front projection on the inner surface of the shield plate, to restrain the shield plate in the fully closed state. Moreover, when the shield plate is restrained or released from the restraint by the operation of the control lever, the abutment projection and the locking claw are merely put into abutment against each other and never rub each other. Therefore, the abutment projection and the locking claw are not worn due to the use of the control lever for a long term and hence, the restraint of the shield plate and the release thereof can be always carried out properly.
According to a second aspect and feature of the present invention, in addition to the first feature, the locking claw has a slant formed thereon so that when the control lever is in the locking position, if the shield plate is turned from an opened position to the fully closed position, the slant is pushed by the abutment projection to turn the control lever to the neutral position.
With the arrangement of the second feature, even when the control lever is first set in the locking position and the shield plate is then turned to the fully closed position, the abutment projection can push the slant at the upper portion of the locking claw to return the control lever to the neutral position. Therefore, the shield plate can be brought reliably into the fully closed state without being obstructed by the locking claw.
According to a third aspect and feature of the present invention, in addition to the first or second feature, the abutment projection is integrally connected to a toothed wall of the click stop mechanism, the toothed wall having click teeth formed on the inner surface of the shield plate.
With the arrangement of the third feature, the abutment projection is reinforced effectively by the relatively large toothed wall, whereby the restraint strength of the shield plate restrained in the fully closed state can be enhanced.
The above and other objects, features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description of the preferred embodiment taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.